PLEASE DO NOT USE MY STORY WITHOUT MY PERMISSSION AND BE HONEST WITH YOURSELF!
Property of Amyleah
A/N: Finally the exams are over, the second school term holiday is here! And I'm glad to be back on Fanfic. What's this 'purge' I keep on hearing about? I was expecting a welcoming party will lots of balloon and chocolate cakes, but your reviews will suffice :)
The reviews are great – I have butterflies in my heart 'gut' just reading them :3 I am really happy you've enjoyed the story so far.
So, I give you chapter 9 of Surviving The Seasons – Children of Death
Chapter 9 – Children of Death
Melinoe reached into her pocket and pulled out a purple scrunchie, and tied her hair up into a messy bun.
She glanced at her fort and sighed. It wasn't perfect, yet. Her enemies would will see through her. She took a tome, then two and propped them side by side in front of her,. It was almost done. Licking her chapped lips, Arcadia scanned through the library shelves for something 'perfect' – perfect enough to complete her fort.
Her eyes lit up when she saw a bright red book with golden swirls adorning its crippled spine. She stood on her toes and reached for the book. "Closer, closer..." she told herself. "Almost there."
With a soft thud, the book fell into her hands. She smiled in victory and walked back to her desk. She cracked open the book and turned it over face down like a roof for her tiny fort.
"There... now you are strong and mighty; the strongest fort ever built. There is no force on Earth that can destroy you." she gushed, stroking the fine pages of the tomes she used.
The smell of sunlight and old papers grew heavy in the air. She loved it. Her little haven where no one bullies her, where she truly belonged. "I'm going to stay here." She decided.
"No, you will not." Arcadia swirled round and saw Zagreus sitting on one of the desks, "No, you will not." He repeated. It wasn't a question nor was it a statement. It was an order.
"We will go back. Hide or run, if we have to. That bloody demon of a god can't keep us from finding them any longer."
"It has been too long," she mused. "I wonder if she ever thought of us? Remembers us, even?"
Zagreus leaned towards her makeshift fort and smirked. "That looks like home. Empty and abandoned." He slammed his palm on the roof and the tomes came tumbling down, a pile of dust and ashes lay in their wake and onto the floor. "Damn Zeus wherever he may be!" He scowled.
His eyes turned into a golden hue and glared out the window. "We must go. He knows where we are." He growled and yanked Arcadia by the wrist, and bolted towards the door. "He's coming."
Black wisps wrapped around their ankles, round their heads... and they were gone.
Persephone pulled the curtains back and let the sunlight's tiny fingers reach the dark corners of her room. Sunlight – they rarely get any sun nowadays. She peeked down the balcony and saw frost covering the tiny rose bushes. "Winter is coming sooner than you think, My Lady," Atropos said softly, her grey eyes staring at the sky. "And soon..."
"Winter will stay and the sun will go away," Persephone concluded. "Is it because I'm weak or because of my mother's pathetic 'suffering' she calls it?" Her ice-cold words sent shivers down the Moirae's spines.
Lachesis bowed her head, "No, it is something more powerful – something you have created. Something you are not yet familiar with."
"My babies," Persephone sighed and pressed her palm against the clear glass.
Tortured and slowly suffering, but Macaria could only blink. She felt nothing. Her senses blind and numb. She turned her head to the sky, the sound of seagulls and taste of seawater fresh on her lips. Like a faint memory that probed her mind. She wondered quite often who she was. She couldn't recall anything – except for a man with snow white hair and stormy blue eyes. A man who seemed trustworthy and kind, but dark and twisted inside. He'd pressed his face to the bars of her tiny prison cell and smile. "Bait, that's all you are. Bait."
He would finger the lock in such a disgusting matter that made Macaria shrink away to the moldy walls of her cell. An animalistic growl erupted from throat as she would bare her teeth and sharp nails at him. She hated that man. She hated the sight of him even more. Even the sound of his name would send her into a fit of madness. The same man who ripped her away from her mother.
Zeus was his name and a filthy creature... that he was.
Macaria crawled to the bars and peeked through the small lock. Not, yet. She decided. She gave out a small whimpering sound and retreated to her corner. Not yet... but soon enough. Soon enough.
"Run! Run Melinoe! Goddamn it run!" Zagreus shouted, his body was pinned down by a harpy. Its sharp teeth almost tearing off Zagreus' leg. The boy yelped in pain and tried to fight the beast off.
Huge toad-like monsters came crawling towards her. Melinoe stood frozen in place, her eyes wide in fear. "Zack! Help me! Zack!" Tears began to form at the corners of her eyes. "Zagreus!" she begged.
"Fuck it! Just get the Hades out of this place!" Zagreus ran towards his sister and morphed into a Catoblepas. He quickly turned Zeus' minions into stone and galloped away from the scenery, with Melinoe safely tucked underneath his thick mane.
"You could have turned earlier," she mumbled against his fur.
"Yes, but where's the fun in that?"
Kore watched as her skin slowly changed colour and soon, it'd be like how it used to be – pale, snow white skin. Persephone's skin. She moved her gave to the mirror in front of her, her cheeks that were once dusted with light freckles, now red and rosy. Her light green eyes faded from blue to emerald green and back again to it moss-like shade.
"Mirror, mirror on the wall... whose the fairest of them all?" She mocked her image and scowled. Her life was slowly crippling away. She was afraid then, now she was frightened. She didn't know what will happen to her current self. Would 'Kore' be locked away, wedged between memories of the past? Or will he keep her memories?
"You are." Liam wrapped his arms around her waist, and nuzzled her neck. "You are." He whispered softly – almost as if he was sad. "I know, you're worried, so am I. To have my wife back has always been a wish I knew Cronus would never grant me. But now I fear for the worst."
Kore ran her fingers through her hair, soft ringlets cascaded down her back. "This isn't me. No matter how many times I've tried accepting it. I'm just not her, Liam. Persephone is a Queen. I am nothing more than a vessel for her soul." She sniffled and leaned into his warmth. "I am not her, Liam. I'm not her."
Liam frowned and looked into the mirror. "Look at us. We are perfect, This is us, Kore. No matter how many times you deny it. This is you. You and Persephone are one! Your memories will merge and you will be free. And this time – I hope – we will be free."
"What happened to them?" Kore's voice was laced with another. Persephone. "Our children. I heard you. You need to learn that the walls have ears too, my dear. Tell me." She urged. "What happened to my babies, tell me."
Liam cradled her body in his arms and rocked them back, and forth. "Shhh... I don't know. But wherever they are. I hope they are safe. Away from all this drama."
"Zagreus, Melinoe and Macaria – they need us to be strong. It is only a matter of time, we will be reunited once more.
"And Zeus, the King of Heavens, will fall..." Lachesis sang, her eyes grey and glassy.
A/N: Well there you have it. Chapter 9. I'm currently working on Chapter 10. I'm really sorry if this chapter is too short, but I hope you enjoyed it. I envisioned this chapter to be a sort of "sneak peek" into the worlds of Hades and Persephone's children.
Zagreus - a god of the Orphic Mysteries. He was a son of Zeus and Persephone, who the god seduced in the guise of a serpent. But in my story – Zagreus will be the son of Hades and Persephone.
Melinoe - daughter of Zeus and Persephone, disguised as Hades. She was said to have half of her limbs black and rotten, the other limbs pure and white. In my version, she would have different eye-colour (one blue and the other green.)
Macaria - is said to be the Goddess of death, she has an army of the undead and ghost. At night it is said you can hear her crying and wailing. Supposedly a reason why dogs bark the loudest at night.
In my story, Hades is the rightful father of these three children. He fathered them, not Zeus. I refuse to go by history!
Catoblepas - its head is always pointing downwards, hence its name which means "to look downwards" in Greek. The creature is said to have the head of a hog and the body of a buffalo with scales on its back. Its stare or breath could either turn people into stone, or kill them.
Harpies - are very famous. In Greek mythology, they are often creatures sent by Zeus to exact punishment.
You see that blue button there? That pretty button, well I'm telling you to push it and send me a review worthy of my time... or just a normal review. I miss you guys so much! See you in chapter 10!
P/S: I have a fictionpress account under the same penname "AmyLeah" and a tumblr. (Beyond Written Words) so check it out. You can also follow me on twitter, WednesdayJames_ :) you can ask me anything you want and stuff :P